MOONSHADE INTERVIEW

HI THERE THANKS FOR ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS FOR US.
Hello! The pleasure is most definitely ours.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW ALBUM/ PROJECT?

Our debut album “Sun Dethroned” came out at the tail end of October 2018, and it was released by Art Gates Records. Our current live shows are supporting the release of the album.

WHAT INSPIRED ANY CENTRAL THEMES ON THE ALBUM?

“Sun Dethroned” is a conceptual work that deals with a two-sided personification of the human condition, in the form of two romantically involved main characters that symbolize the abstract concepts of ‘good’ and ‘evil’: the God of Nothingness and Lenore, whose death sends the former towards a spiralling descent into wrath and madness.

It functions as a parabola that highlights the need for balance while firmly stating the cost of its absence.

HOW LONG DID YOU SPEND RECORDING?

The whole album was recorded over the course of 10 months – from February to November, 2017. It was then mixed between December 2017 and March 2018, by our guitarist Pedro Quelhas and producer Afonso Aguiar.

HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT THE SONGWRITING PROCESS?

All songs were, as always, put together by all band members. While the guitar riffs and leads are always what we build upon, we find it important to note that every single member has a vital role in our creative process, as everything we do aims to reflect the collective views of the whole band.

DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE TRACK FROM THE ALBUM?

All four of us have different ones, actually!

In all seriousness, we all love every single one of them like little babies of ours, but if you were to ask us individually, you would definitely get four different answers in regards to “that one song I enjoy slightly more than the others”.

WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES?

We are a pretty eclectic bunch of music fans, and as such each one of us is influenced by a lot of different things, which then reflects on the songs themselves.

Collectively speaking, however, bands like Insomnium, Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Be’lakor, Paradise Lost and Swallow the Sun spark the interest of every one of us.

HOW DID YOU FORM THE BAND?

In 2009, Pedro Quelhas and Cristiano Brito parted with their former musical project Deep Cut, determined to venture on a new project and a different kind of sound. Inspired by the rising northern melodic death-metal scene, and by fusing that with multitude of different musical influences that focused on mixing heavy and melodic elements, the core of Moonshade’s sound was, thus, defined.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ANYONE STARTING OUT?

Play what you want to play, because you want to play it, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box and shatter conventions. Life is way to short to confine yourself to what a certain conception of “genre” or “style” should sound like. Trends come and go, but honest art is timeless.

WHAT IS NEXT?

After concluding our last two summer shows in our Sun Dethroned Over Lusitania 2019 mini-tour (in August and September), we’ll hit the roads of Portugal and Spain alongside our good friends Apotheus, in the month of November, for the Dethroning Stars 2019 Iberian Tour. You can expect 8 fiery shows, where we’ll celebrate the death of the Sun in communion with our beloved Iberian Wraiths.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU'D LIKE TO ADD?

To everyone who’s reading this, we humbly request that you give our music a chance. Our music is available on Spotify, iTunes, Youtube and Google Music, while our merch can be acquired at either our Bandcamp page or our official store at Bigcartel. If you like what we do, support us!